Tuesday, 15 October 2019

In reply to  Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (11 September 2019)

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Equality, Minister for Creative Industries):

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (the department) provided a response to each of the Victorian Auditor-General’s recommendations which was tabled in Parliament alongside the report in March. The department has accepted all 6 recommendations arising from the audit into the accessibility of clinical mental health services.

The implementation of some of the recommendations will be informed by recommendations arising from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System and as such, the full implementation of the recommendations will not be complete until after the Royal Commission has delivered its final report to the government.

The terms of reference for the Royal Commission specifically ask it to inquire into and report on strategies to attract, train, develop and retain a highly skilled mental health workforce. It also highlights the need to investigate strategies to improve mental health outcomes of people in rural and regional communities.

The Andrews Labor Government has invested in a number of initiatives to address workforce attraction and retention challenges across the state. One of these is the Workforce Strengthening Project which provides additional funding to allow Area Mental Health Services to recruit workers, with a focus on increasing nursing positions. It will deliver more than 250 additional training places and ongoing positions in mental health between 2018 and 2022.

Funding has also been made available through the 2019-20 State Budget for Hello Open Minds recruitment campaign, which is focused on attracting and recruiting mental health workers to address immediate supply shortages in public specialist mental health services.

There are known shortages of mental health nurses and psychiatrists in public mental health services in Victoria in specific geographical areas. Work is underway to improve the department’s understanding of public mental health service vacancy rates for nurses and psychiatrists across the state.

In the 2019-20 State Budget, the Andrews Labor Government invested in a number of initiatives to support the psychiatry workforce. This includes funding for a Director of Training for Specialist International Medical Graduates, in recognition of the increasing reliance on international medical graduates training and working in the Victorian mental health system, particularly in rural and regional areas. The Director of Training will provide a greater level of support for graduates from overseas to help them adapt to the local health system and differing cultural contexts.

The Budget also provided investment to support a Director of Advanced Training in Addiction Psychiatry to develop training and career pathways for addiction psychiatry; a scholarship program to support and promote leadership for psychiatrists that offers development opportunities in priority areas such as clinical governance; and funding to promote the uptake of established telehealth infrastructure for workforce development and secondary consultation by psychiatrists.